Category: RINO

Down The Primrose Path

This is why I subscribe to Matt Taibbi: CIA, Ukraine Exchange Pre-Divorce Propaganda

Over the weekend the New York Times published an epic exposé. “The Spy War: How the C.I.A. Secretly Helps Ukraine Fight Putin,” by Adam Entous and Mitchell Schwirtz, described a decade of CIA-Ukrainian cooperation, featuring details that would never reach public ears under normal circumstances. The opening is worth quoting at length:

“Nestled in a dense forest, the Ukrainian military base appears abandoned and destroyed… But that is above ground. Not far away, a discreet passageway descends to a subterranean bunker where teams of Ukrainian soldiers track Russian spy satellites and eavesdrop on conversations between Russian commanders…

“The listening post in the Ukrainian forest is part of a C.I.A.-supported network of spy bases constructed in the past eight years that includes 12 secret locations along the Russian border.”

Yowza! Officials have long scolded the public that even minor disclosures of “sources and methods” could “risk lives” and must be prevented at all costs. Yet here comes the Times, helping “current and former officials in Ukraine, the United States and Europe” blab a long list of extraordinary details, down to the number of CIA-supported secret bases along the Russian border. An abridged list of revelations:

• CIA director William Burns made a “secret” visit to Ukraine last Thursday, his tenth since Russia’s invasion;

• On the night of February 14, 2014, in the middle of the Maidan coup, Ukrainian spy chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko called the heads of the CIA and Britain’s MI6 and asked for help in rebuilding his agency “from the ground up”;

• Ukrainian intelligence officials, seeking to prove their value to American counterparts, handed the CIA proof that Russian separatists downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 “within hours of the crash” in July of 2014;

• Then-head of Ukrainian military intelligence Valeriy Kondratiuk handed the CIA “detailed information about the latest Russian nuclear submarine designs” in 2015;

• “Around” 2016, the CIA “began training an elite Ukrainian commando force” called “Unit 2245” which “captured Russian drones and communications gear so that CIA technicians could reverse-engineer them and crack Moscow’s encryption systems”;

• The CIA’s chief of station in Kyiv was nicknamed “Santa Claus”;

• A Ukrainian agent “duped an officer from Russia’s military intelligence service” into providing intelligence that “allowed the C.I.A. to connect Russia’s government to the so-called Fancy Bear hacking group, which had been linked to election interference.”

Former CIA head John Brennan sitting for a month of interviews with Kitty Kelley wouldn’t produce this many juicy reveals. They even recounted the CIA hauling Kondratiuk to a Washington Capitals game to boo Alex Ovechkin, for God’s sake. Are these spy agencies or people pitching a Netflix series?

Sign up for the free trial period if you must to read it.

Blog note: If you cannot refrain from insults and trolling the same people for the thousandth time, refrain from commenting or find another blog. – ED

Gradually, Then Suddenly

‘most predictable crisis’ in history…

… the U.S. economy is resting atop a public debt exceeding $34 trillion, with its debt-to-GDP ratio sitting at around 120%. Perhaps not the blessing the Founding Fathers had once envisioned.

Now, alarm bells are beginning to ring with increasing frequency and volume.

Jamie Dimon says Washington is facing a global market “rebellion” because of the tab it is racking up, while Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan believes it’s time to stop admiring the problem and instead do something about it.

Elsewhere The Black Swan author Nassim Taleb says the economy is in a “death spiral”, while Fed chairman Jerome Powell says it’s past time to have an “adult conversation” about fiscal responsibility.

And despite the issue being the “most predictable crisis we’ve ever had” according to former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan—a summary Dimon agrees with—it’s an item that isn’t yet top of the political agenda.

Zerohedge: Household Debt Tops $17.5 Trillion

Ronna McDaniel to step down as RNC chair

Progress.

McDaniels has been under pressure for months to step down after she failed to deliver the promised red wave in 2022. Recent reports about the RNC’s excessive spending also came out, putting further pressure on her to step down.

Her chief of staff stepped down earlier on Tuesday. “I know the timing of this news comes as many rumors in the press swirl and we prepare to merge with the presumptive nominee. I assure you, the RNC is in an incredibly strong position,” Mike Reed said. He will also be stepping down later this month.

This news comes after Trump and McDaniel met together at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago on Monday. After that meeting, it was reported that changes would be coming to the RNC. He posted after that meeting that McDaniel was “now Head of the RNC, and I’ll be making a decision the day after the South Carolina Primary as to my recommendations for RNC Growth.”

“party of losers”.

WTFTX?

@ColinRugg;

The U.S. government is dropping six charges against crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried including campaign finance violations and conspiracy to commit bribery charges.

Making bribes with stolen money is fine as long as that money is going to U.S. politicians.
SBF donated $100 million during the 2022 midterms, pouring tens of millions into dark money groups with customers’ funds.

Some of these groups were linked to Senate leaders including Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer.

h/t joe, marc in calgary

Down The Primrose Path

To the very last Ukrainian;

“War,” said British philosopher, mathematician and pacifist Bertrand Russell, “does not determine who is right — only who is left.”

Those words might be the perfect lens through which to view what probably lies ahead for Ukraine in the coming year as its troops dig in — and dig deep — along a front roughly 960 kilometres wide.

Beyond that front stretches a wasteland of occupied territory — the smoldering ruins of a months-long summer counteroffensive that fell short of allies’ hype and failed to dislodge the Russian Army from the 20 per cent of the country it occupies.

Behind it lies a war-weary population, growing domestic political anxiety and infighting, and international allies who have grown more capricious — even delinquent.

Oh, well – they’ll always have that ‘Vogue’ cover.

Related: Inertia and dementia

Shoulda Mowed Your Own Lawns, America

They just can’t quit slave labour.

Longtime migrant workers are disgruntled with new waves of arrivals to New York City who they say are undercutting them — claiming anyone hiring them should “get the f—k out of here”.

City data shows over 116,000 migrants have flocked to the Big Apple since last spring and most are making ends meet working in the illegal underground economy — many while still living rent-free at taxpayer-funded hotels and shelters, as the New York Post exclusively revealed.

This poses a problem for more established migrants who have been working cash-in-hand for years.

They say newcomers accept next-to-nothing for work such as painting and concreting, driving down their own earning potential.

A tradesman known as “Parrow” who described himself as an “old timer” said he has been going to the Home Depot on Merrick Boulevard in Queens to pick up construction, plumbing and home improvement work for “20 plus years” but is now struggling.

Slowly, Then Suddenly

Fitch downgrades USA long-term credit rating to AA+ from AAA

The rating downgrade of the United States reflects the expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years

• Cites repeated debt limit standoffs and last-minute resolutions
• In Fitch’s view, there has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years
• We expect the general government deficit to rise to 6.3% of GDP in 2023, from 3.7% in 2022
• Fitch forecasts a GG deficit of 6.6% of GDP in 2024 and a further widening to 6.9% of GDP in 2025
• The interest-to-revenue ratio is expected to reach 10% by 2025 (compared to 2.8% for the ‘AA’ median and 1% for the ‘AAA’ median)

This is huge and follows S&P downgrading the USA on August 5, 2011. The last episode sparked a major risk-off turn (and even got its own wikipedia page) and this one is likely to do the same, if not worse because now two-out-of-three of the US credit rating agencies have the US at sub-AAA.

Woman running world: Yellen “strongly disagrees” with Fitch’s decision

The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire

@KobeissiLetter

Yesterday, the US released their Budget Deficit Report.

To see how much interest the US has paid on Federal debt, you have to scroll to page 9 of the report. Then, go to the bottom of the table to the small line item below. Finally, you’ll see that the US has paid an alarming $652 BILLION in interest YTD, up 25% since last year.

As rates rise, we will soon see the first ever year with $1 TRILLION+ in annual interest expense. Interest expense will soon be the US government’s biggest expense, even more than social security.

The debt ceiling crisis wasn’t the real crisis.

It was simply a distraction.

Meanwhile, US tax receipts fell by nearly 10% over the same time period. The drop is the biggest since June 2020 when the US went into a full lockdown.

We have a spending problem and a revenue problem. A solution is needed.

Tucker Up, Buttercup (Bumped)

Clips are now making their way to Twitter, and some of them are lit. According to the comments, you can access the event via Blaze TV. I’ll post a few in the extended entry.

Update: You can find the video coverage here, still live, now into its 4th hour. Scroll the red time bar back for segments with the candidates.

**********

This is going to pull a lot of eyeballs.

One by one, Carlson will grill Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

Regardless of any private hesitation they may harbor, each of the campaigns who spoke with RCP ahead of the event say they take Carlson seriously. Most have spent considerable time preparing. And for good reason.

Continue reading

Navigation